1997 - Across The Nullarbor





Bye Bye Adelaide.  We were on our way to Esperance to live near hubby’s mum and Step Dad.

They had raved about Esperance and nearby towns for a while now and our interest was captured.

Stories to come in the next blog.

Now on the long road complete with drinks and lollies, trailer piled with a few prized possessions and little Patches in her doggie bed in the back checking out the tailgaters driving behind.

First stop Streaky Bay which was quite a pretty little stop.



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We then hiked it over to Ceduna which is the last town before the big long stretch.  The Caravan Park was a good choice for the night.  Picture is of a pink lake nearby.


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I guess the word Nullarbor conjures up thoughts of dull and boring but I found the scenery quite interesting.  I liked the way the landscape changed from woodland to scrub to tiny salt tolerant bush.  Part of the stretch near the Great Bight is close the coast line and you can see the Great Southern Ocean.  I liked this bit the best.  There was hardly any bush.  It was flat country and the road had turns which made a change.

Here at the Great Bight you have to turn off the head out to the coast if you want to see stunning views of the coastline.  There is a viewing platform to check out the Great Southern Ocean.  It’s quite impressive.




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By the time we got to the SA/WA border we were tired.  You can’t drive the whole Nullarbor in a day, unless you are a trucky on nodose pills or sharing the driving.  So we stopped at a place called Border Village and hired a dog box (donga) for the night.  Lucky Patches was sleeping out under the stars.

The accommodation is called Dongas which are nothing more than shipping containers.  We were envying those in Australian jails right now. 😊    But we were tired and needed some sleep.  It’s amazing how miles of straight road can make one tired.  At least they had cold beer!! 😁

Petrol sold in the Nullarbor is expensive.  You can’t do what my Dad used to do years ago.  Drive on in the hope that the next town would be cheaper.  Towns here are non-existent!  You just have to suck it up and pay what they demand.

Didn’t get any pictures of Border Village.  There’s nothing much to take pictures of.  I was too busy tucking into some expensive beers!

We woke early and decided to head off just before sunrise.  Be careful driving in the dark.  Roadkill is pretty bad in the Australian outback.  We saw plenty along the way.  There was a little light on the horizon so we had plenty of visibility.

Sunrise and Sunset is stunning here 😄    Can’t wait to go back with my DSLR.





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SA/WA border.  Not much here.  We got the obligatory photo standing half and half across the border and drove on into Western Australia.



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FUNNY STORY

Years ago the border between QLD and NSW was heavily monitored.  We used to regularly drive from Brisbane to Sydney to visit my brother and his family.  I remember once, we had a big stick of sugar cane.  When I was young, sugar cane was like one huge lolly.  There was no way I was parting with my big lolly so Dad, Mum and I sat on it with a blanket over top.  The border police didn’t detect a thing.  😜

Another time we had a bag of oranges that they found and were going to confiscate.  No!  So we parked the car and ate all of the oranges lol.  That is probably where I get my stubborn streak from.
No one was going to take our hard earned oranges away from us!!  Haha.

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Just over the border in WA  is a place called Eucla.  We discovered this a little too late.  We should have stayed at Eucla instead of Border Town.  At least they don’t have Dongas.  When we drove back across the Nullarbor later we stayed here.  Much nicer.  
So there’s a tip for you.



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And lastly, a photo that I took of this great sign.  I can see why people have a collection of road signs.  This one is a classic! 😎 There just happened to be a truck in the distance.  
How good is that!  😁


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Next up, our adventures down the bottom end of Western Australia in a place called Esperance.



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